I think the plaintiffs are going to have a hard time meeting the burden of proof on many of their charges.
Jay and Kenny's contentions are laughable at best and I think a second year law student could probably do an admirable job defending against them considering neither were named in any NCAA documents.
While JVP was named in the consent decree, it was based on his name appearing in the Freeh report which the NCAA relied on as a factual document produced by a former highly regarded Judge and Director of the FBI. Further, JVP was a public figure and the burden of proof in slander/libel cases for public figures is considerably higher than someone unknown. Public officials, public figures, and limited-purpose public figures must show that the statements were made with knowledge that the statements were false or with reckless disregard of whether they were false. Good luck proving that.
The NCAA in its most recent answer to plaintiffs complaint lays out what I think is a pretty reasonable argument as to why it thought it had the right to act against PSU. Further, there have been a fair amount of depositions and documents already obtained through Corman's efforts. I haven't seen anything in them that I believe isn't defensible by the NCAA.
PSU is tied to FSS and FSS has two of the more highly regarded judges in the country in Freeh and Sporkin (also a PSU alum). Don't discount their influence on Leete.
Finally, King and Spalding has its own issues as a firm to deal with right now which could weigh on Wink Wink's time to adequately prepare.
Only you would refer to Freeh as a highly regarded Director of the FBI and Judge. Several of his investigations have been criticized as having conclusions predetermined and biased towards his employer. His tenure in the FBI was an unmitigated train wreck. Google much?
Freeh was hired by
Nasser Kazeminy to conduct an independent investigation into alleged financial improprieties in the relationship between Kazeminy and former Senator
Norm Coleman that surfaced
during the final week of the
2008 Minnesota Senate race.
[40] At the time, Freeh was serving on the board of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), whose chairman was Kazeminy.
[41] Although Coleman had received roughly $100,000 in gifts from Kazeminy over the years, Freeh's investigation cleared both Coleman and Kazeminy of any wrongdoing in 2011.
[40][42] The Intercept, questioning Freeh's impartiality, reported that nine days after Freeh's investigation cleared Kazeminy of wrongdoing, Freeh's wife received a one half ownership stake from Kazeminy in a Palm Beach property valued at $3 million.
[43]
In 2009, Louis Freeh was hired by Saudi Arabian
Prince Bandar bin Sultan as his legal representative on issues surrounding the
Al-Yamamah arms deal, appearing April 7, 2009 on the PBS series
Frontline's episode "Black Money".
[44]
In late May 2011, Freeh was retained as an independent investigator by the Ethics Committee of
FIFA in the bribery scandal centering on
Mohammed bin Hammam and
Jack Warner.
[45] However, the Court of Arbitration of Sports subsequently rejected Freeh's report as consisting of little more than speculation.
[46]